Chase Travaille

ARTIST BIO

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Inspired by his personal history being raised in the American South, Chase Travaille creates surreal sculptures that subvert the notion of the idyllic countryside. Dark Humor, transgressive thoughts, and desires are articulated in objects that invite a dialogue concerning sexuality, social class, and the inherent theatricality of southern culture. His current body of work Shard Amphora is focused on attaching the ceramic shards of different artists to rebuild new vessels as a response to the events of 2020 and its lingering aftermath into today. Chase received his MFA from Alfred University in 2019 and was awarded the Outstanding Student Achievement in Sculpture Award from the International Sculpture Center the same year. He has attended residencies internationally and finished his long-term residency at the Archie Bray Foundation in the summer of 2021. He currently lives and works in Northwest Arkansas. 

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ARTIST STATEMENT

I consider my work to be performance artifacts. Objects that are extensions of the body that serve as evidence of a muddy history. Which, for myself as the maker, allows me to recognize, and acknowledge an action, or an emotion that is felt, and then transmute that into something that can be placed physically into space and critically accessed. Being a product of a culture of honor, I create sculptures that are indicative of Southern Gothic literature. Dark humor, transgressive thoughts and desires are articulated in works that invite a dialogue concerning sexuality, social class, and material impossibility.